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Dean Erwin Chemerinsky

Chemerinsky and Garner Highlight Bartlett Lectures

On Monday, June 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court completed its October term of 2009, ending the fifth year of Justice John G. Roberts’ tenure as Chief, the first year of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and the 35th and final year of Justice John Paul Stevens. And on Friday, June 25, 2010, Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the University of California at Irvine Law School, once again visited Kansas City to share his insight on the justices and their opinions. Introducing the dean as “the gold standard,” Judge Nanette K. Laughrey thanked him for returning to the Western District for the 10th anniversary of the D. Brook Bartlett Lectures.

Dean Chemerinsky offered three themes. First, he described the Supreme Court numerically, indicating that the Court would decide 73 cases this term, compared to an average of 200 cases per year for most of the 20th century, and 160 cases per year in the 1980s. This downsizing of the docket means major issues go longer before resolution, circuit conflicts linger, and it has become even harder to get a petition for certiorari granted. He noted that as the docket dwindles, the length of the opinions increases, and he enjoyed calling for an imposition of word and page limits on the justices. Full Story >>